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Did the Original and Refit Ship have multiple Tractor Beam emitters ?

TransporterBeam

Lieutenant Commander
Did the original ship, refit ship and the 1701-A have mulitiple Tractor Beam emitters placed strategically across the hull like the Eneterprise-D conjecture from that ship's blueprints ?
 
Re: Did the Original and Refit Ship have multiple Tractor Beam emitter

Did the original ship, refit ship and the 1701-A have mulitiple Tractor Beam emitters placed strategically across the hull like the Eneterprise-D conjecture from that ship's blueprints ?

For the NCC-1701, we have evidence of one emerging from the lower sensor dome, and one from under the shuttle-craft hangar. I don't remember if the blueprints show them, or where...

For the NCC-1701 (U) and NCC-1701-A, we have no on-screen evidence of any tractor beams. Mr Scott's Guide has a rather rediculous device which extends from the secondary hull that is supposedly the tractor beam emitter. I can't recall what the blueprints had.
 
Re: Did the Original and Refit Ship have multiple Tractor Beam emitter

It's too bad the remastered and re-VFXed TOS episodes aren't of any help here, as the decision was made not to show a visible type of tractor beam.

Why would there be any specific locations for the beams for NCC-1701-nonrefit? What is the evidence for the two locations you suggest? We have usually seen ships tractored slightly below the hero vessel, both to the aft and to the side; these angles could well be covered by an emitter in the Shane Johnson location, at the bottom of the secondary hull, which also happens to be the part of the ship with the most "features" (painted markers) that could serve as the tractor beam emitter or its duonetically transparent cover.

The concept of a beam within the shuttlebay, for managing the incoming craft, is quite rational as well, of course. We could argue that ST5 specifically shows what happens when a shuttle comes in without tractor beam guidance, but we could just as well say that Sulu's aim was off that day but that usually he can fly the craft in without fender-bending and without the help of a tractor beam.

Timo Saloniemi
 
Re: Did the Original and Refit Ship have multiple Tractor Beam emitter

The NCC-1701-D was designed with only a single visible tractor beam emitter. As the series progressed, the visual effects people composited tractor beams coming from locations as featureless as the supposed phaser bank locations of the NCC-1701.

What I'm getting at is that the Enterprise-D's multiple emitters were a sort of "retcon," so a similar "retcon" might have to be introduced in order to establish that the older ships also had multiple tractor beam emitters.
 
Re: Did the Original and Refit Ship have multiple Tractor Beam emitter

The original show gives no visual clues whatsoever as to where the emitters are, but we do have Kirk's line on "The Immunity Syndrome" ordering Scotty to get "two tractor beams" on Spock's shuttlecraft as they were trying to get away from the giant space ameoba and the antimatter time bomb they'd just shoved up its tailpipe.
 
Re: Did the Original and Refit Ship have multiple Tractor Beam emitter

Generally, all you can go by is where the 'target' of each tractor beam is. In most of the shots, it's dorsal and aft (placing the emitter to the bottom of the shuttle-bay).. though there's a couple 'up front' and dorsal. But it's pretty much guesswork.
 
Re: Did the Original and Refit Ship have multiple Tractor Beam emitter

I just punt and say that the exact locations are classified and aren't really necessary to know on simple familiarization plans. :D
 
Re: Did the Original and Refit Ship have multiple Tractor Beam emitter

In "Who Mourns for Adonis" Kirk orders Sulu to put the "forward tractor beam on repel" in an effort to free the Enterprise from the giant hand.

If you specify a "forward tractor beam" that clearly indicates that the ship mounted more than one.
 
Re: Did the Original and Refit Ship have multiple Tractor Beam emitter

Or then there might be just one, but it can be applied in any direction, so the person giving the order routinely specifies that direction.

...Much like one might command "right standard rudder", even when the ship only has one rudder (or none, if she has a jet or an azipod instead, or uses differential thrust or something).

Timo Saloniemi
 
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